Enterprise office space in Hong Kong

Above about forty people, a serviced suite stops being the lowest-cost answer and a floor of your own starts. This page is what that decision looks like in numbers: what each one costs at your size, what each one commits you to, and where the crossover actually falls.

Under thirty people, a serviced floor almost always wins. No fit-out, no deposit of three to six months, no agency and legal, and you are in within weeks.

Above forty, the per-desk arithmetic turns: you are paying a premium for services you now employ people to do, and the floor you could lease is cheaper per person every year you stay in it.

Between thirty and forty it turns on two things only: how long you can commit, and how much fit-out you are willing to pay for.

From our own quotes, at enterprise sizes, per month.

Team sizeMedian per monthPer desk21 to 29 peopleHK$96,000HK$3,84030 to 50 peopleHK$168,000HK$4,15850 and upby quotenegotiated

Above fifty desks no operator publishes a rate, and neither should we. It is negotiated against what the building has standing empty that month.

The rent is the part everyone compares, and the smaller half of the decision.

A floor of your ownA large serviced suiteCommitmentTwo to three years, sometimes longerOne month to two yearsWhat is includedThe bare floor. You add everything elseFurniture, reception, cleaning, internet, meeting rooms, utilitiesUpfront costFit-out, a deposit of three to six months, agency and legalOne or two months deposit and a set-up feeTime to move inThree to six months, mostly fit-outDays to weeksCost per personFalls as the team growsFlat per desk, whatever the size

Four things, in the order they tend to bite.

The per-desk premium stops being worth the services. At ten people, somebody else running reception, cleaning, internet and the coffee is worth a great deal. At fifty, you are employing an office manager anyway, and you are paying twice for the same work.

The meeting room allowance stops covering you. A large team books rooms constantly, and hours beyond the allowance are charged at a rate designed for occasional use. This is the most common reason a serviced bill comes in above the quote.

You start wanting the floor to be yours. Your own reception, your brand at the lift, a layout that matches how your teams actually work. A serviced suite can be branded a little; it cannot be laid out.

Your team size becomes predictable. That is the real test. A lease is a bet on a number two to three years out, and it is only cheaper if the number holds.

If your team size is not settled, stay serviced and take the premium. A lease signed against a number you are not sure of is the most expensive mistake in this market, and it is not close.

The fit-out is the part that surprises people, because it is capital rather than rent and it lands before you move in. Expect three to six months from signing to occupation, most of it drawings, approvals and the works themselves, and expect to be paying rent on your current office for part of that.

The landlord will usually contribute, either as a rent-free period or as a cash contribution towards the works, and the two are worth different amounts to you depending on how your accounts read. That contribution is negotiable, and after the rent itself it is the largest number on the table. It is also the one most tenants leave there.

On a serviced floor: the rate per desk, the term, the deposit, the set-up fee, the meeting room allowance, and the expansion clause that lets you take the next suite at an agreed rate rather than the rack rate.

On a lease: the rent, the rent-free period, the fit-out contribution, the deposit, the break clause, and the reinstatement obligation at the end. Reinstatement is a real cost that almost nobody prices at the start and it can run to a month of rent or more.

Central and Admiralty for the address, and for floor plates large enough to take a hundred people in one room. Quarry Bay and Kowloon East for the arithmetic: newer buildings, larger and more regular floors, about 55 per cent below Central per desk. Tsim Sha Tsui sits between them and is the compromise most companies reach for when they want the harbour and a Kowloon rate.

One practical point on a large floor: the lift core and the column grid decide how many people actually fit, not the square footage. Two floors of the same size in different buildings can differ by fifteen per cent in usable desks. The price index compares all 28 districts on rate; the usable difference is something we walk through with you.

Tell us the team size, the districts and the timing. A broker comes back within 24 hours with both answers priced, and says which one your numbers actually support. If the number does not reach the market we will say so on the call rather than after the viewings.

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